Exterior look of the of Andrew’s Oil Co. location at sunset. (Nora Cayward)

On September 16, South Windsor hosted the Chamber of Commerce’s 57th Annual Meeting & Business Awards, where Andrew’s Oil won Family Business of the Year.

The family businesses nominated for this award included Andrew’s Oil, Mathnasium, Bahler Brothers, and Happy Dogs at Home.

The Family Business of the Year award recognizes the contributions, achievements, and commitment to the community demonstrated by local businesses. It highlights the positive impact that these businesses have on the South Windsor community.

The community collectively voted for the business they believed best represented these values, rewarding Andrew’s Oil for modeling them all.

Andrew’s Oil and Gas Services has been family-operated since 1957, delivering fuel, providing heating and cooling services, offering repairs, and more throughout South Windsor.

In 2021, ownership was passed on to Sam Capitelli and Melissa Hannaford, keeping the business in the family. Capitelli and Hannaford take pride in working with relatives as they continue the tradition of being a supportive and dedicated business within the South Windsor community.

“We believe what sets us apart from other nominees is our integrity and ethical practices that have been the same since opening over 60 years ago,” Hannaford said.

Their community involvement has been significant, as they have served on committees, sponsored many Chamber activities, contributed to fundraisers, and acted as repeat sponsors of the Chamber’s annual golf tournament.

“At Andrew’s, it is not all about business,” Hannaford told The Prowl. “We take pride in the values we stay true to and the generational relationships we have built with customers.”

In addition to contributing to the Chamber, Andrew’s Oil has supported South Windsor High School’s Operation Graduation, the South Windsor Lions Club, and the South Windsor Farmers Market.

Operating a family business takes communication, boundaries, and a lot of effort. Many emotions can get involved, prompting challenges along the way, but Andrew’s Oil has been able to adapt and maintain strong community ties. Their hard work and sacrifices have made a real difference, making them deserving recipients of this award.

The winner of South Windsor’s ‘Small Business of the Year Award’ was presented to Lilliana Serrano of Innomarket Innovative Solutions.

Innomarket Innovative Solutions has been helping other businesses for more than 18 years, aiding with branding, social media presence, and advertising.

Innomarket helps create brand recognition for other local businesses through forming a unique identity and developing a powerful website design.

Innomarket also helps local businesses spread the word about their business and identity through strategic marketing campaigns and pushing out high-quality advertisements to be shown on Google.

Social media presence is hugely important for any business in this modern age, and Innomarket is a business that will help others with standing out on social media.

Through one-on-one marketing advice, Innomarket Innovative Solutions helps local businesses bring in customers and clients, as well as better recognition for the brand, through an eye-catching presence on social media.

Other nominees for the Small Business Award included Miguel Candelaria, Emily Luippold, and Ross Grant with Danco Furniture, the Law Offices of Michael B. Pollack, and Catherine Marshall with Calliope Patient Advocates.

Danco Furniture recently opened its second location in South Windsor. Started by Candelaria, Luippold, and Grant, who previously worked at their Massachusetts location.

They follow the no-commission business model and operate with the family-owned feeling that made their Massachusetts location so successful.

Michael B. Pollack has been working in law for over 30 years. A convenient office location, the experience that he brings on the legal side of things, as well as his emotional understanding of his clients, makes him one of the most desired legal services in the South Windsor area.

Whether you need a more recognizable brand or more people to recognize your brand, Innomarket Innovative Solutions is an award-winning business that will help you with your needs.

This year’s Rising Star Business of the Year, was awarded to IV Lounge in South Windsor. (Omar Scott)

The Rising Star Business Award for South Windsor was awarded to a businesses which recently opened and has been rising in quality and popularity in the community. This year, IV Lounge won the Rising Star award. But what is an IV Lounge, and why did they win it?

The IV Lounge is a business in South Windsor that specializes in being a medical spa.

Medical spas do non-surgical cosmetic procedures like tattoo removals, laser hair removal, Botox injections, weight loss, and other procedures of the sort. The IV Lounge in South Windsor offers similar procedures.

The IV Lounge opened in 2022 and has received great reviews ever since, helping their clients with everything from weight loss to Botox.

For their great services, they have racked up an impressive five-star rating across multiple review sites like Google reviews and Yelp.

They were one of the four businesses in the running for the award, beating out Singapore Math, Higher Talent Solutions, and B&E Management Consulting: all highly rated businesses.

Mary Bycholski, an APRN from the IV Lounge, said, “We have a very strong focus on community as far as our involvement within the South Windsor community and commitment to education, to health, and wellness.”

It was their strong commitment to the community which led to them rising above the rest of the competition and winning the Rising Star Business Award.